The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson Outtakes
by Stephaniiie
Summary: As the title suggests, a collection of outtakes from THWTLAL. Contains spoilers, obviously. Enjoy!
1. Meeting Ethan

**WARNING: THIS OUTTAKE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR 'THE HARD WAY TO LEARN A LESSON'**

**Disclaimer- I do not own any publically recognised characters or items. Ethan, Mason and THWTLAL, however, are all miney-miney-mine :P**

**A/N: What? An unannounced outtake? I know, shocking, huh? Well, check out the A/N at the bottom… yes, of course it's long :L But, beforehand, this is set in the hour after Ethan's birth and is when Edward and Bella meet their son for the first time- something I know a lot of you were dying to read ;) So… enjoy**

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'**The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson' Outtake- Meeting Ethan**

**Edward POV**

I watched as she stared at him. Her eyes were utterly fixated on his tiny, round face as though she were committing him to memory; which she probably was. Her hair stuck to her forehead a little, and she looked more exhausted than I had ever seen her but at the same time she had never looked more beautiful. It was probably because of that all-consuming love on her face, the utter content that radiated from her and the relief that was written all over her that everything was okay.

I kissed the top of her head from where I sat next to her. "You should sleep," I murmured in her ear.

She shook her head. "I can't. It feels like he's going to disappear."

"Bella, you're exhausted," I whispered. "He'll be here tomorrow, I promise."

She just sighed. "I can't believe he's ours. For forever."

I looked down at the sleeping baby and smiled. "Neither can I."

Bella lent her head down and pressed her lips to our son's forehead for a long moment. When she pulled away, I squeezed her hand. I was sat next to her under the covers of her little hospital bed, one of my arms around her shoulder and the other between us, holding her hand by Ethan's little leg. He was perfect. They both were.

"He's got your hair," she said quietly, her eyes sweeping over his fine – but definitely my strange copper colour – messy hair.

I pouted. "I wanted him to look like you."

Bella laughed. "Well, I wanted him to look like you."

"No," I disagreed. "Besides, you're much more beautiful than me."

She snorted. "Don't kid yourself." She sighed. "I hope he gets your eyes. Brown is so boring."

I felt a smile play at my lips. "You want your son to have my 'gorgeous' green eyes so he can grow up, 'dazzle' girls and be a little player?"

She kicked me gently. "You are going to teach him that player-ism is _wrong_. With examples, photos and some of your F grade papers from last year."

"Poor boy."

Bella kissed my shoulder, her tenderness the complete contrast to the profanities and death-threats she had been shrieking at me just a few hours earlier. I had never been so worried for my manhood. "Let's just concentrate on getting past the baby stage first."

I nodded in agreement. "Do they do crash courses on how to change diapers?"

She laughed. "I'll Google it for you."

We were silent for a moment, but then I sighed. "Everything's going to change now, isn't it?"

Bella's tongue darted out to run across her lips. "Yeah." She looked up and met my eyes. "But it's a good change, right?"

I grinned. "I think there'll be a bit of both in there. For example," I ran my finger up her leg, "we won't have as much _alone time_ as we did before…"

She rolled her eyes. "We didn't have much 'alone time' when I was pregnant either."

"Why do you presume that I mean sex when I say 'alone time'?" I pretended to be offended.

She giggled. "Don't even try to deny it, Cullen."

I lifted my finger and stroked along Ethan's head. His hair was still matted and damp, but it felt soft and baby-like under my touch. "You know," I said quietly, so as not to wake him, "if someone had told me this time last year that I'd be sat next to _Bella Swan_ in a hospital unable to take my eyes off of _our_ son… I'd never have believed them."

"If someone had told me that I'd _like_ Edward Cullen I wouldn't have believed them. Let alone that I'd be head over heels in love with him and holding his baby in my arms."

"Bella," I said, suddenly very serious.

She heard the change in my tone of voice. "Yes?"

"If you could go back and change anything… what would it be?"

Bella was very quiet for a long moment, and then she grabbed my chin and turned my face to look at her. "Edward, are you doubting that I want this?"

I didn't answer.

"Freaking hell, Edward. Of course I want this. If I could go back in time, the only thing I'd change is that I would never have run from you. I would have bitch-slapped that Tanya girl off the face of the earth and then I would have fallen into your arms." She looked back at Ethan. "But one thing I would not change… is this. So Charlie practically had an aneurism when we told him. So we're the talk of the town. So this is going to be very freaking difficult. So what? I'm happy with the way things have turned out." She took a deep breath. "Are… are you?"

I bent my head and kissed her lips. She tasted like cherries, and baby, and Bella. When I pulled away I left my forehead pressed against hers. "Of course I am. But… you know what?"

"What?" There was an edge to her voice.

"If I could go back in time, I don't think I'd change anything. Losing you only made me appreciate having you here with me more than I already do. Plus, going to Seattle got me a sister."

Bella scowled at the mention of Jane and I chuckled. Bella and Jane still hadn't quite bonded, but I was sure that, in time, they would.

Thinking about Jane, I remembered the conversation I had had with Mr Marshall earlier that day. It seemed like a lifetime ago now, but I could still clearly remember what he had said. I wondered if Mr Marshall had sat with his wife – Sara – when Jane had been born and just stared at her, as Bella and I were doing now.

"What are you thinking about?" Bella's quiet voice broke into my subconscious.

I looked at her, and, before I had even given myself conscious permission to do so, I knew that I would tell her the truth. Mr Marshall had probably known that I'd tell her when he had told me; there was no way you could keep anything from the person that you loved. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes," she replied right away, not even thinking about it. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's… wrong," I said carefully. "It's… well, I was talking to Mr Marshall earlier. I was in his office when you called." I stopped.

"Mmm." Bella prompted my vaguely, though her eyes still traced Ethan's baby-grow-clad body.

I decided to just come out and say it. "He's Jane's Dad."

That got her attention. She stared at me. "_What?_"

I nodded.

"But… isn't… isn't her father in jail?" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

I shook my head. "That was her step-father. Marshall was her Dad- _is_ her Dad. But her Mum took her away when she was a baby and… well, she died and her husband naturally got custody."

Bella thought about this for a long moment. "Does Jane know?"

"That Grogan wasn't her real Dad?" I shrugged. "I have no idea. But she sure doesn't know about Marshall. He told me not to tell anyone but… well, you don't count. As long as you don't tell."

"I won't," she swore. She went back to memorising every plane of Ethan's tiny form and I fell back into my thoughts as I watched her.

I wondered what it would be like to lose Ethan. I hadn't even known him for an hour, and just the thought tore at my heart like a knife. I knew that it would be agony to lose a child. Even if they weren't truly lost.

And, in that instant, I made up my mind to help him. I already owed Mr Marshall more than I could count, including my family. My little family that was just beginning. There was no way that I could ever repay him for something so incredible, but maybe – just maybe – I could give him the chance to give her money for clothes, and be there at her graduation crying with pride like he had described. Maybe I could even give him the chance to walk his daughter down the isle one day.

And that reminded me of something else I wanted to do. I had been working up to it for months, but I couldn't get up the guts to go through with it. I didn't know how I would phrase it, what I would say. I didn't know how she'd react; if she'd think that it was too soon, or shotgun. But I had to tell her what I was thinking, at least. You couldn't keep secrets from the girl you loved, as I had thought just moments ago. And I was in love with her and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her; I just needed to make it official.

"Be right back," I whispered in her ear, slipping off of the bed and leaving the room. I wandered down the deserted hospital corridors to the cafeteria, and I prayed that they would have what I wanted in there. I didn't have time to run to the corner shop; I still had to call everyone and tell them. But I wanted to do this first.

Plus, I was putting off calling my house because I knew that it would be very difficult to get off the phone to Alice without telling her Ethan's name. Bella and I had decided on it months before he was born, but we had kept it to ourselves, even after we had initially chosen to tell them. But then we had come to the conclusion that it would be better to just keep it to ourselves for a few more months. That way if we changed our minds, or if he turned out to be a she after all then no one would be disappointed. And I wasn't about to tell my mother over the phone when the name had such significance.

I wandered over to the counter and exhaled in relief when I saw that the cafeteria had both bagels and bags of hula hoops. I grabbed up a plain bagel and a bag of ready salted hula hoops and paid for them with the change in my back pocket. I opened the bag as I walked back to the room that was mine, Bella's and Ethan's until tomorrow.

The butterflies were starting to gather now. I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to me. I would have to do this without a prepared speech, then. Because if I didn't ask now, it would be difficult to get a moment to ourselves in amongst baby duties, school and the inevitable interruptions that were my family.

Bella looked up when I pushed the door open, the bag of hula hoops in my pocket and the bagel and one hula hoop held safely behind my back. She smiled and mouthed 'hey' but then her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Where did you go? What have you got behind your back?"

I smiled at her, somewhat nervously, and then I took a few steps toward the bed. I took a deep breath, and then I took her hand and said, "Bella, I am being deathly serious, okay? I know it may not look like it but… well, I am." Then, I got down on one knee traditional-style, and realisation dawned in her eyes. She blinked at me in shock, and then I continued, "Bella, I know we're young, and naive, and possibly really, _really_ stupid. But I love you, and Ethan, and I _know_ that I can't live without you. I know we've promised forever, and I know that we both mean it. But… I want to make it more official. So… one day…" I pulled the bagel and the hula hoop out from behind my back and lay them flat on my free palm. "Do you think you'd do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

When Bella saw the food on my hand, she giggled through the tears that were running down her cheeks. "You mean you want to go through the whole hula hoop wedding again?" she whispered jokingly.

I shot her a stern look. "Of course; I'd do it over and over again as long as I could be by your side. But I said I was serious, Bell. I meant it. Just because I have a hula hoop and a bagel instead of a ring doesn't mean that I'm taking this any less seriously."

"Edward," she whispered, and her hand came up to cup my chin, "do you even have to ask?"

"Well, yeah, because if I just randomly took you to our wedding, I think you'd probably be royally pissed and…"

"Edward?" she said again.

I blinked. "Yeah?"

"Of course I'll marry you. Now, shut up and kiss me."

I grinned and stood up, leaning over her and pressing my lips to hers, careful not to crush Ethan between us. I pushed the hula hoop on her ring finger as my lips moved fluidly against hers, and then slipped the bagel on top of that, squishing my finger in the gap beside hers as well.

When we broke apart, Bella looked down at our hands and burst out laughing. "Is it me or does that look more than a little dodgy?"

I grinned. "Now, we know you're sleep deprived when you start saying things like that." I planted another kiss on her forehead and reluctantly took the bagel off of our fingers. I left the hula hoop on, though. "Give me the baby and go to sleep, love."

Bella hesitated, looking worried.

"Bella." I tried to hide the smile in my voice, but failed. "He's my son too."

She smiled a little. "I'm sorry. I just… I feel like I'm dreaming, you know?"

I nodded; hell, yes, I knew what she meant. "And _you_ know as well as I do that in a few hours he'll be screaming blue murder because he wants to be fed. And that's something that I just can't do." I gestured to my chest.

Bella cringed at the thought of being woken, but kissed Ethan's head and then held him out to me. "Okay." She blew me a kiss and then settled down under the covers. She didn't close her eyes though. Instead, she smiled at me.

"What?" I asked, checking to see that I wasn't holding Ethan upside down or something.

But Bella just said, "He looks like he was meant to be in your arms."

I couldn't help the shit-eating grin that lit up my face. "And you know what?"

Bella yawned. "What?"

"I hope he's just the first of many," I whispered.

She glared at me. "Please don't bring up more children so soon after I just had him."

I laughed.

"One day, though," she said. Her words were garbled now, as she teetered on the edge of sleep. But I could still make out the "I love you" that escaped unchanged by exhaustion.

"I love you too, Bella," I said quietly.

And then I looked down at Ethan. He was just too perfect. I sighed, knowing that there were things I had to do; I had too much time staring at my newborn son in the last hour or so. Although, in my opinion, a lifetime of staring would never be enough, I had things to do.

So I stood up and placed him gently up the right way in the little cot by Bella's bed, and then I slipped out of the door to go and call the people that were waiting on tenterhooks for the good news.

And, as I stepped outside into the late twilight, I realised that I was turning a page. No, screw that, I was starting a freaking sequel. I was saying goodbye to my old life and starting out on a whole new adventure.

And, this time, I wasn't alone.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

**Hello there, my lovely loyal readers :)**

**What's this, you ask? Well, I'm mostly posting this because I said I'd post the Mason story today but I'm not actually posting it until tomorrow because of Laura (long story ;)) lol. But, the Mason story is (obviously) not going to be from Edward's POV, so this bit isn't actually going to be in the spin-off.**

**When I finished THWTLAL back in March (it's now June in case you're reading this later), I got a barrage of requests for outtakes of meeting Ethan, telling the parents and, of course, telling Esme about the name. So I started writing this in March, but only got a page done and then abandoned it. But this afternoon, I was browsing through my folders and I found this and I just picked up where I left off- and it was like I never stopped. So I'm posting it today to get you guys psyched for the spin-off that I will be posting tomorrow ;) Keep an eye out, though, because I don't have a title yet :S**

**Depending on how popular this is, and how inspired I am, I may add more outtakes as further chapters to this story as the Mason story continues. Feel free to request and I'll see what I can do- but please don't be surprised if I can't do it or it takes me ages, because sometimes you can only write what you're inspired to do. But I will consider doing EPOV or BPOV from bits in the Mason/Jane story if you guys want me to, or maybe an older telling the parents bit that got missed out of THWTLAL.**

**It is mostly because of these requests that Edward and Bella have kept Ethan's name confidential- so now you guys will get to see Esme's reaction ;) But that will be in the Mason/Jane spin-off ;)**

**Okay, now, before I go, I'm going to ask a favour. THWTLAL was nominated for an award at the silent tear awards! BUT voting closes tomorrow (15****th**** June) so any votes you can get in now are very much appreciated :L There is a link on my profile.**

**And that is all I have to say- for once :L**

**I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow with the spin-off! Or, at least, I hope I will be ;)**

**Um… I'd love it if you'd review and let me know that you haven't forgotten THWTLAL? :L**

**Thank you guys!**

**Steph**


	2. Pesky Authors Note

**Author's note deleted. ****Please move on :)  
**


	3. Best Christmas Ever

**WARNING: THIS OUTTAKE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR 'THE HARD WAY TO LEARN A LESSON'**

**Disclaimer- I do not own any publically recognised characters or items. Ethan, Mason and THWTLAL, however, are all miney-miney-mine :P**

**A/N: What? An outtake for THWTLAL more than two years after it was finished? Yeah, I know but it's Christmas and I wanted to and I think you guys still like this or there are still some people reading…? I don't know, but I hope you like it anyway :)**

***PLEASE NOTE* This has not been fully edited, thus may be a little scratchy in places but hopefully is acceptable in standard haha.**

***ALSO IMPORTANT* This is a tad dirty towards the start. Don't panic, it's nothing too bad, definitely not worthy of an M rating but I felt the need to mention it :)  
**

'**The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson' Outtake 2 – Best Christmas Ever**

**3 and a half years later...  
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**Bella POV**

Edward's hot breath fanned across my face in short pants. It smelled like toothpaste, so I happily inhaled and cupped my palm around the back of his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. As our tongues danced a passionate tango in our mouths, I drug my hands down his bare back, digging my nails into his skin; hard but gentle.

His mouth detached from me but his forehead remained pressed against mine as he hissed quietly in pleasure, grunting my name softly and grinding his hips closer, making me whimper, hitch my legs higher and clutch him tighter. His lips trailed my throat, kissing and occasionally sucking, but not hard enough to leave a mark. With one last kiss to the base of my throat, he whispered, "God, I love you."

Unable to help myself I replied with a snicker, "My name's Bella, not God."

He shot me a glare. "Way to ruin the mood, Bell."

I smiled softly and brought one of my hands back to his jaw. "Sorry, baby." I guided his mouth back to mine and kissed him again. "I couldn't help it." I giggled quietly.

"But this is important," he whined, thrusting against me as though to emphasise his point.

"It's always important to you," I replied, but he did have a point; although I'd been feeling a tad off recently so I couldn't help but wonder if the 'point' had already been fulfilled. But I scraped my nails against his back again to rile him up all the same.

He growled – actually growled – and seemed to get back into… things pretty quickly. Thankfully I managed to keep my mouth shut the next time he muttered profanities. But by then I was quite 'into it' as well so it was a moot point really.

This had been going on for about a month and a half now; it was the twenty-second of December and, aside from for the third week in November when I had gotten my period, we had been having sex every opportunity we could. It had all started on the second of November. A Monday. I knew I'd remember the day forever.

I'd picked Ethan up from his pre-school and listened to him chatter all the way back to our little apartment. It was very small; the bathroom was no bigger than the smallest closet and one of the bedrooms wasn't much better. Two bedrooms because Edward and I refused to share with Ethan any longer; he'd been almost two when we'd saved enough money to move out of our parents' homes about a year and a half before. Plus he'd moved around in his sleep far too much to share for much longer; I'd sustained too many kicks to the gut and Edward had sworn on more than one occasion that he didn't think his privates would ever work again. So, naturally, we'd had to get a bigger space to stop that from happening. As much as we loved Ethan, sharing a bed with him just wasn't appropriate anymore. And it did put a bit of a dampener on our sex life.

But I digress.

When we'd gotten back to the apartment, I'd settled him down with some colouring so that I could get on with some work for my third-year project and when I'd checked on him a while later, he'd drawn a pretty big picture.

"Wow, what's all this, honey?" I'd asked, being able to recognise some of his wobbly drawings, like the police car beside a wonky number two, and baseball bat by the number four, but I couldn't work out the blue blob by the number one.

"It's my list for Santa," he'd replied, a little of the "well duh" about his tone. That would explain the police car; he'd desperately wanted a remote control police car for a very long time.

"Oh, I see," I'd said, like it had been obvious the whole time, but I had to fight to keep the panic from my tone. We loved our son more than life itself and wanted to give him everything he ever asked for (within reason, of course; no child of mine would turn out a spoilt brat) but money was tight. I honestly couldn't see how Christmas was even going to happen. I wasn't entirely surprised that Christmas was on his mind almost a whole two months before the occasion, though. Stores were already trying to con kids into begging for Christmas presents and Alice was… well, Alice was Alice. She'd been planning the Cullen Christmas party practically since July. "What's this one?" I asked Ethan, pointing to the blue blob.

Ethan turned his green eyes to the page and then rolled them at me. "Mommy, you are silly. It's a brother. Like Ryan at pre-school's got; Ryan said they play together all the time so I want one."

My mouth went dry. "Oh. Right."

Edward and I had spoken about more children before. Of course we had. We were married now, man and wife, together forever and all that. Children were practically an unwritten rule in the wedding vows weren't they? In fact, the first time it had been brought up properly was on our wedding night. We'd married just over a year after Ethan was born, just after I'd finally graduated high school; a year behind my classmates but at the same time as Jane. It had been a small ceremony, nothing too grand. Or, at least, that had been our plan. We hadn't been reckoning upon the force that was Alice; she'd made it quite the day to remember.

We hadn't had enough money to spend on a proper honeymoon abroad but Carlisle, Esme and my parents had kindly clubbed together to pay for us to have a weekend away in the sunnier state of California. My dad had bid us farewell with gritted teeth which was ridiculous as we were both long past eighteen now, and we were married. Plus, we had a son which was a bit of a giveaway concerning our sex lives.

But that night, as we lay together in a hotel in California, Edward had murmured, "Do you want more kids, Bella?"

He had shocked me silent with that statement.

"Bell?"

"I… um… gosh, I don't really think I'm ready for-"

He laughed. "Not _now_. We couldn't do that now, I know, especially not with you going off to college and me… you know. In the future. When we're a bit more stable."

"Well… sure, I guess. I know I always wanted a big family." I looked up at him, into his eyes which still somehow managed to dazzle me. "Like yours."

"Me too. And I want a girl who looks just-" he punctuated each word with a kiss then "-like-you. Ethan looks too much like me. Plus, I want a daughter to spoil rotten."

"Hey, there will be no favouritism in my family, mister," I said, poking his nose gently. "If you spoil our daughter, then Ethan will need to be spoilt too."

"Of course," Edward agreed, like it was obvious. "We'll spoil all of our children."

"All? How many do you want?"

Edward thought for a moment, blowing up at his widow's peak making me smile and reach out to carefully run my fingers through his hair. After a moment, he answered my question with a devious smile. "Seven."

I huffed. "I don't think my uterus can cope with creating seven lives."

At that, Edward shuffled onto his belly and kissed down my chest to the bottom of my belly where he traced the hideous stretch marks with love and murmured, "Yes you can, can't you? You can make seven wonderful babies, can't you?"

I pouted. "Are you seriously talking to my uterus right now?"

"Well, she's the one who'll need to create my children."

"It takes two to tango," I muttered.

"Well if you want to get on your knees and talk to my baby-making devices, I won't mind."

I hit his shoulder but couldn't help laughing just a little. Edward grinned his lazy lop-sided grin and crawled back up the bed, hovering over me and reaching over to gently take my lips between his, kissing me tenderly. "Well, we have years to decide," he told me quietly.

"That we do," I agreed. I stared deep into the eyes of my… my _husband_ and felt my heart thud unevenly as I saw the love I had for him reflected right back at me. I lowered my voice and whispered, "Kiss me."

We didn't do much more talking that night.

I'd had to force myself out of that memory before it overtook me altogether, which wasn't a good thing to happen whilst my three-year-old son was in the room. And, with that, I put Ethan's list for Santa back on the table and told him that he could watch some TV for a while, desperately hoping that it would take his mind off of his request because I certainly couldn't get a baby before Christmas, just a little over two months away.

But nothing would stop Ethan once he'd got his mind set. I supposed that with Edward and myself as his parents, stubbornness was a trait he was bound to inherit.

I waited through four days of his hopeful chatter about brothers before realising that his request wasn't going anywhere and I should probably speak to Edward about how best to let him down. I didn't really want to do it myself for fear that he'd ask where babies came from. I was barely twenty-two and there was no way in hell I wanted to have that conversation with my kid already. Hell, he wasn't even four yet! No way was I telling him about the birds and the bees. And thank Jesus he was a boy; I'd be leaving the sex talk for Edward to do later. Much later.

On the other hand, Edward probably wasn't the best man for the job. His sexual relations in high school had been… well… numerous. And probably not hugely safe either. Maybe I'd man up and give Ethan the sex talk myself… in eleven years. He wouldn't need to know anything before sixteen, would he?

Anyway. Fridays were the days Ethan and I spent entirely together, since Mondays and Wednesdays he went to pre-school and I to college, Tuesdays he spent with Grandma Esme while I worked my one-day-a-week part-time job at a local diner and Thursday mornings Charlie took Ethan while I cleaned the house or did work for college. So the fourth day was a Friday and Ethan and I were baking fairy cakes when he turned to me and said, "When can we send my letter for Santa, Mommy?"

I looked at him and then back at the mixture, feeling my cheeks tinge pink. "Um… I don't know, baby. Why?"

"Bucoz I want to make sure he's still got some brothers left or that he has time to make one for me," he told me, with all the innocence of a three-year-old, looking up at me with wide and unblinking green eyes.

Thankfully, the timer had gone off then and he'd been sufficiently distracted by icing the cakes and then Edward had come in from work and Ethan became the centre of his attention until bedtime so he hadn't brought it up again.

"I'm gonna go change out of my uniform," Edward said to me when we left Ethan to sleep.

"Okay, baby, I'll go put the dinner on," I replied.

Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me back close to his body. "Are you sure that you don't want to help me get out of the uniform?" His eyebrow arched suggestively.

"Okay, no for several reasons. First, I'm hungry. Second, Ethan's not anywhere near the land of nod right now. And third…" I hesitated and then said, "Third we need to talk."

Edward released me and ran a hand through his hair. "Uh oh, that's never good." But he smiled and kissed my forehead. "I'll be back in five."

I stared after him as he retreated to our bedroom, my gaze lingering on his fine backside. For a moment I regretted not agreeing to help him get undressed. I did love his uniform.

A few years ago, about three weeks after he'd graduated high school and when Ethan was about four months old, Edward had surprised almost everybody with his choice of career. I say almost everybody because there was one person who had known for a good few months exactly what Edward intended to do after high school. And that person, unexpectedly, was my father.

When Edward had spoken to him about his worries about being a good father and partner, apparently my dad had regaled him with a little advice. Or, rather, a life story. He'd told my boyfriend about when he'd been in a similar situation when my mom had been pregnant with me. And he'd told Edward that he'd joined the police force and never, ever looked back. So when an opening came up in their training program, the good Chief Swan informed my baby daddy right away and Edward took it without even talking to me about it.

I'd been a little annoyed at first, to be honest. All I could think was that my baby daddy – and the love of my life – would be working in close proximity to both my still-fairly-angry father… and guns. Plus, how on earth was I supposed to find him sexy anymore if he wore the same uniform as my _dad_?

But it was all okay in the end because Charlie and Edward bonded over work. I mean, the first day on the job he came back white as a sheet and very scared-looking but after that he was fine. He still hadn't told me what had happened that day, but in some ways I thought I'd rather not know.

And because Edward wasn't the Chief of Police, he didn't have the same uniform as my dad so all was well in that department. Maybe even better since I'd shocked even myself with how keen on his uniform I had become.

Additionally, Ethan loved having a police officer for a dad. He thought it was cool to no end. I wasn't stupid though; as the daughter of a police chief myself I knew he'd grow out of that.

I was standing in the kitchen (well, I say kitchen but it was really the corner of the family room with the kitchen counters in), staring into space deep in thought when Edward's arms came around my middle and he kissed the side of my neck. "What is it we need to talk about?" he asked softly.

I turned round to face him but remained in the nest of his arms. I buried my face in his shoulder and inhaled the gorgeous smell that was my husband. Husband. That would never get old. We had paper to prove it this time, too. And rings; though they were simple and relatively low in price at least the symbols of our love for each other were no longer edible. "Your son-" I started.

Edward chuckled in my ear.

"What?"

"I know it's gonna be bad when you call him my son and not ours."

"Yes, well… _your_ son has decided what he wants for Christmas," I told him carefully.

Edward stepped back from me slightly so he could see my face. "Oh really? What does he want?"

I sighed, and felt butterflies in my stomach. Which was ridiculous. This was Edward I was talking to. I could tell him anything and vice versa.

"Bella?"

I pulled a face. "He wants a brother."

"Oh."

I stared at him. "'Oh'? That's it?"

He smiled slightly. "What do you want me to say?"

"Edward, we can't do that! He's going to be so disappointed!"

His smile got bigger. "Bella. We're twenty-two. No, _you're_ twenty-two. I'm still twenty-one. I think we're perfectly able to make that happen."

I swatted him with a tea towel. "That's not what I meant. We can't do that in a month and a half and even if we could there's no guarantee it would be a boy!"

Edward sighed and finally became serious. "Well… if we could…" He trailed off.

"What?"

"If we could make it happen… would we?"

I felt my brow furrow in confusion before what he was asking became clear. "Are you asking me if I want to…?"

He flushed a little, for once. "Um… yeah?"

"But can we afford to…?"

Edward shrugged. "It takes nine months, right?"

I nodded.

"You'll have finished college in nine months. I've got a decent job."

I frowned. "Edward, we don't have the space…"

"We can make space."

"Or the time-"

"You'll have finished college. I can take leave; I have a lot of holiday saved up."

"What about Ethan?"

"What about him?"

"He might get jealous… or left out… or forgotten…" I chewed anxiously on my lip.

"He asked for this. And there are an awful lot of adults to go around. My parents, your dad and Sue, Alice, Jasper, Emmett-"

"Ethan asked for a _brother_," I reminded him, cutting his list short. "It could be a girl."

"I hope it is a girl. Ethan will understand one day. Sisters are nice. Besides, the next one might be a boy."

"The next one could be a girl too. He could be overrun by sisters."

A huge smile swept across Edward's face. "I'd like that." He bent his head down and kissed me and the next thing we knew, we were in our bedroom and Edward was pulling my shirt over my head. The dinner was burnt, but it was worth it.

The next morning over breakfast, I reached into the cupboard for the pill as had become routine. But then my eyes met Edward's as he drank his coffee leaning against the counter and I looked back down at the medication in my hand. And I put it back in the cupboard.

Suddenly Edward was right beside me. "Are we really doing this?" he whispered.

I smiled and glanced over at our oblivious child who was eating peanut butter toast (so much like his father) and humming to himself. Then I turned back to Edward. "Yes," I replied. "I think we are."

And that was that.

**#x#**

"And they all lived-"

"ISABELLA MARIE CULLEN!" came the shriek that cut me off.

Ethan's eyes widened and he looked at me. "Uh oh."

I ignored both of them and finished my sentence. "-happily ever after. The end." I smiled down at Ethan. "Come on, little man, bedtime."

"But I don't want to go sleep! I'm too e'sited for Santa." Ethan stuck out his bottom lip in the most adorable and irresistible pout. That had clearly come from Alice. Speaking of whom…

"Bella!" The door burst open and my pint-sized sister-in-law stood in the doorway. "What… is _this_?" She held up something fluffy and red and I bit back a groan. I should have known she'd sniff that out.

I sighed instead. "Alice, I'll be with you in a minute, okay? Just let me say goodnight to this one."

"I won't sleep," Ethan insisted.

Alice's furious expression morphed instantly to one of adoration and happiness as she came over to the bed and perched on Ethan's other side. "Do you know what I used to do to try to get to sleep on Christmas Eve?"

"What?" Ethan looked up at his aunt with wide eyes.

"I'd sing Christmas songs in my head and eventually I'd fall asleep," she told him, "and I'd imagine what was going to happen on Christmas day and think of all the nice presents I'd get."

"Hopefully," I added, throwing Alice a half-glare.

"Hopefully," she agreed, holding back a laugh. She knew exactly what Ethan wanted for Christmas despite our discouraging. She didn't, however, know that Edward and I had quickly begun to long for the very same thing.

Ethan considered what Alice had told him for a moment.

"If you don't sleep, how's Santa supposed to leave the presents?" I asked. "He only leaves them for sleeping children."

Ethan sighed but lay down. "Okay," he said reluctantly.

"Good boy." I took the book and put it back on the shelf before reaching over, tucking him in and placing a kiss on his forehead. "Night, baby. Daddy will come say goodnight in a minute."

"Night, Mommy. Night Aunty Awice."

Alice beamed at him. "Goodnight Ethan."

The moment we stepped outside, Alice whirled around to face me. "What?" She held up the red jumper from earlier.

I held up a finger in response. "One sec." I poked my head into the family room where Edward and Jasper were having a beer. "He's ready for you."

Edward put his drink down and came over. He paused by me in the doorway, placed his palm flat on my belly and murmured, "Don't let Alice kill you yet, okay? I need you."

"Are you talking to me or my uterus?" I muttered back.

Edward laughed. "Both of you."

Alice had finally had enough and dragged me to my bedroom. "Explain," she said, throwing the jumper at me. "_Now_!"

I unfolded the fluffy wool jumper. It was red and looked hand-knitted and had a huge cartoon reindeer on the front with a red pom-pom for a nose. I shrugged. "It's cute."

Alice's mouth gaped like I'd just kicked her puppy or something. "Bella. Even _you_ should be able to see that that's a hideous monstrosity."

I just shrugged again. It was pretty bad. But… you know… it was Christmas. You can get away with these things.

"And you were going to wear this on Christmas day?"

I bristled. "I _am _ going to wear this on Christmas day," I insisted.

"No, you're not." Alice huffed and turned to a bag in the corner of the room. "I bought you this dress for tomorrow and you have to wear it."

"Alice-"

"You'll like it, I promise." She lifted the dress out carefully handling it like a newborn and passed it off to me in the same manner. "It's going to be released in the Spring; but I thought you could have it as an early Christmas present…"

Since graduating high school Alice had (surprise, surprise) become an intern for a fashion design company. She was now already in a senior position and looking in good stead to being able to begin her own line in a couple of years, as was her aim. For now, though, she had to be content with being one of the company's best designers. She did manage to wrangle her way into getting clothing that she'd designed months before their official release, like this dress, but not too often.

"Wow, Alice," I said when I saw the dress; and I meant it. It was jade green and very long; the bottom almost touched the floor. It was elegant and yet understated at the same time, with a halter neck and strap just around the rib cage, under the chest, to emphasise the boobs. It was gorgeous. And very me. "Okay, yes, I love it. Thank you."

Alice rolled her eyes. "When are you going to stop being surprised that I'm right?"

"When you start to compromise."

Alice glared at the red jumper as if she could burn it with her steely gaze. "Never."

I laughed. "Come on; let's get our drink on with the boys."

"Uh uh." Al shook her head. "You've got to try it on so I can make changes if they're needed."

I rolled my eyes but knew better than to fight. I willingly stripped down to my underwear and let Alice slip the dress over my head. It floated over my body in a way that was almost unreal. Alice did up the zip at the back and I turned to inspect my reflection. It was so pretty… and tight. I frowned at myself in the mirror, gently tugging the dress down over my body. "Alice is this smaller than usual?"

"No," she replied, "it's your usual measurements…" Alice's eyes narrowed for a second and then her mouth dropped open. "Ohmigod. Bella… are you…?"

"No!" I said straight away, but my hands flew to my stomach. That _was_ where it was tightest… "No," I said again, more to myself as I tried to fight off the hope, "I wouldn't be showing."

Alice's eyes inspected my reflection as I did. And I noticed more and more subtle changes about myself. I couldn't describe them. There were just… differences. No one else would notice. Not even Edward who knew me better than anyone.

"But…" Alice said after a second. "Are you guys… you know… trying?"

I sighed. Edward and I had agreed not to tell anyone, just in case it took a while or something happened. Or my dad decided to shoot him. "Sort of," I confessed quietly, "but you can't tell anyone!"

"I won't," Alice swore and I knew she wouldn't. Her eyes met mine in the mirror. "Could you be…?"

I bit my lip. I hadn't had a period in a long time. But I was always irregular and coming off of the pill had to have an effect on that, didn't it? "I don't know. Maybe? But I couldn't be showing; we haven't been 'trying' that long."

We were both quiet for a moment.

"What-?" Alice was cut off by a knock at the door.

"Don't come in!" we said in unison.

"Okay," Edward chuckled from the other side of the door. "Just checking that Bell's still alive. And wondering if you guys are joining us?"

"We'll be there in a bit," I called.

Once we'd heard him leave, I sighed and looked back at myself in the mirror.

"It's fine, Bella. It doesn't look like anything. Just a little tight."

"Yeah but… I wasn't expecting this. Not now, not really."

Alice reached out and squeezed my hand. "It's fine, Bella. You and Edward are the best parents I know… alongside my own and Emmett and Rose, of course."

I smiled and nodded a bit. But really I was still shocked. This wasn't supposed to happen so fast!

"What are you gonna do?"

I took a deep breath and relaxed. "I'm going to leave it until after Christmas, I think. We can't overshadow the holidays like that. I'll enjoy the holiday and then worry about getting… tests and stuff."

"Okay. Well… I'm here for you whatever, Bella." She squeezed my hand again.

I smiled at her, and then pulled her in for a hug. "Thanks, Alice. I don't know what I'd have ever done without you."

I changed back into my jeans and t-shirt and we went back to the boys, potential pregnancies and the like pushed to the backs of our minds… for now. But despite telling Alice that I'd forget about it and enjoy the holiday, I went to the kitchen and poured myself a wine glass full of Ethan's red grape juice as an unsuspicious alternative to alcohol.

Better to be safe than sorry.

**#x#**

Christmas morning came like any other morning; Edward and I were woken far too early by a little body bounding into our bedroom and bouncing on our bed. Except this time, he came with a stocking full of presents. Edward made us a breakfast of pancakes in bed and we sat in our bed as Ethan opened his little presents from Santa. He was a little disappointed by the lack of a brother, but we'd given him more than enough preparation for that and the remote control police car seemed to make up for it as he drove it around the apartment pretending that his daddy was inside the car.

At ten thirty we changed to go to the Cullens' for the rest of the day. I uncharacteristically opted to change in the bathroom under the guise of wanting to surprise Edward with my dress but really I just wanted to inspect myself. Once I was standing in just my underwear I stepped closer to the mirror and looked in side-on. I stared when I saw that there was a very small but indisputable bump jutting out from in between my hips.

All kinds of emotions sprung up within me. Hope, happiness, relief, pride, worry, fear… all on a suspicion.

So I pushed it all down, took a deep breath and got ready to go.

As Edward and I walked hand in hand up the Cullens' front path to the house where Ethan was already knocking excitedly, he squeezed my hand. "Are you okay?" he leant in to whisper.

I looked up at him, feigning surprise. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You're acting… funny."

I smiled softly and squeezed his hand back. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

But then the door opened and Esme greeted us with a smiling face and hugs and kisses. We stepped inside and Esme took our coats and hung them up. And then the smell of turkey assaulted my senses and I knew that Edward wouldn't believe that I was fine for much longer.

"Excuse me," I managed to splutter before pushing past Esme and dashing for the bathroom where I somehow managed to vomit neatly into the toilet.

Oh God.

A second later there was a hand against my forehead and a worried voice in my ear, "Bella? Bella, are you okay? What's the matter?"

I choked up a little more in the toilet as his probing questions continued. "I'm fine," I coughed weakly as soon as I could, before clearing my throat and repeating myself a little clearer.

"Like hell you are!" Edward hissed. "Bella, sick is not the same as fine." He moved to stand up.

"No!" I grabbed him and held him down with me. "Please don't make a scene," I begged.

"What? I just want to get you home, or in a bed."

"Edward, really, I'm okay," I insisted.

He pouted at me.

I sighed. "I just… I think…" I lowered my voice even more. "I think I'm… you know… pregnant."

He stared at me, speechless, for almost a whole minute. "What?"

I rolled my eyes. "Pregnant? With child? Bun in the oven?"

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Already."

"_Yes_, Edward. I'm fairly sure. I feel… different."

We were both quiet for a moment, and then he said, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Wait here." And he stood up and left the room.

I wondered briefly where he had gone but I didn't have to wonder for long for he returned not long after he had left holding a small present. He held it out to me. "I was going to give this to you later, at home in private but… you should have it now."

I narrowed my eyes at him cynically but took it and carefully began to open it. I only had to peel off one side before I laughed once in disbelief and looked at my beautiful husband with questioning eyes.

He smiled and shrugged. "I noticed you hadn't been you know… had your monthly visitor in a while. I thought it was maybe a bit premature but… what harm could it do?"

I pressed my lips together but suddenly another emotion passed through me. One I hadn't felt earlier, or the last time I had discovered I was pregnant with Ethan. One that was contagious and I was sure I had just caught from Edward: excitement.

"Let's do it," I said enthusiastically.

Edward nodded and I saw the excitement in his eyes as he sat back against the door and slid the lock across. He politely looked away as I peed on the little stick and then we sat, together, fingers linked on his parent's bathroom floor on Christmas morning. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting to see if our lives were going to change again.

Once my phone buzzed to signal that the time was up and we could look, I silenced it and Edward and I looked deeply into each other's eyes. "Ready?" he asked softly.

"As I'll ever be," I replied nervously.

He smiled and bent his head to kiss me, softly, sweetly, quickly; we couldn't wait any longer. And then we took a collective deep breath… and turned the stick over.

"Well…" Edward said with a heavy exhale and a huge grin. "Merry Christmas, Bella."

I grinned back at him. "Merry Christmas, baby."

"No," Edward murmured quietly, reaching over to rest his hand on my stomach. "Merry Christmas baby," he cooed cutely.

I giggled and the sound was slightly hysterical, slightly scared and entirely happy. Because those two little lines confirming my pregnancy hadn't told me anything I hadn't expected, but they were sure to be the best gift I'd get all day.

**#x#**

Christmas day was amazing, made all the better by our little surprise. We kept it to ourselves, but I was sure that Alice caught our sly grins at each other and maybe even noticed how Edward tried to brush my stomach with every move he made so she might have guessed something.

Everyone was there. Of course there was Carlisle, Esme and Alice, and Jasper joined us because his parents were on holiday in England or something… he'd spent the last couple of Christmases with the Cullens anyway so they didn't have any qualms about leaving him on Christmas.

Emmett and Rosalie joined us as well, even though they had moved to Seattle a good few hours away where Emmett worked as a PE coach at a high school specialising in sport. They had a daughter now, Elodie; she'd be one in February and she'd had Emmett wrapped around her little finger ever since she'd entered the world. She was the absolute apple of his eye and seeing them interact was adorable.

Naturally, Jane was there too since the Cullens were her family, and by default Mason and his family were too. The two of them had been in a steady relationship for a while now. They'd gotten together at Christmas actually; Mason had gone away to college in California and Jane had been the moodiest, most miserable cow you could ever imagine for the entire first semester he was away. Which was a pain in the butt for me especially since she already rather detested me _and_ I had to spend more time with her in school while we both finished our last years. But then Mason had come home for Christmas and Edward and I had done a little… plotting and they'd gotten themselves together. Somehow, they'd made the long-term thing work for the rest of the year and then Jane had followed him to California.

At first we had wondered if she had been running from her problems after recently discovering that Mr Marshall was her father, but she'd kept in contact with him and us and they'd sorted it out and, as a result, Mr Marshall – or Steve, as we all now knew him – was coming by briefly later for dinner and a drink.

And, of course, Ethan gathered the hugest pile of presents a young boy has ever owned; the only member of the family more doted upon perhaps was Elodie.

All in all, it was a good day. Okay, it was amazing.

The highlight, though, wasn't Esme's incredible dinner. It wasn't Mason's sister Mackenzie leading us all in a giant conga around the room. It wasn't Emmett's joke cracker which he had filled with strawberry jelly and left in Alice's place. Nor Jane's embarrassment when she'd opened some lacy underwear from Alice in front of her father ("that's your present, too" Alice had said jokingly to Mason). The highlight of the day wasn't even our surprise in the bathroom. The best bit happened when we tucked Ethan into bed at night.

"Momma?" he'd said tiredly as I tucked the duvet under his chin.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I've been thinking," he said, "I don't mind that Santa didn't bring me a brother."

I exchanged a look with Edward. "Oh? Why not, baby?"

"Bucoz I quite like Elodie so maybe next year I'll ask for a sister instead. He might not run out of those."

I looked at Edward again and we both smiled hugely at each other. Girl or boy we'd find a way to make sure Ethan accepted and loved this baby.

"Okay, baby, good idea," I said quietly, brushing his hair from his face and kissing his forehead. "And merry Christmas."

When Edward and I left Ethan's room, Edward swept me into his arms and kissed me passionately and when we eventually parted, he grinned at me. "Best. Christmas. Ever," he said breathlessly.

"Ever," I agreed, and I let him sweep me along to our bedroom to make it an even better Christmas.

**#x#**

**Hey guys! I'll keep this brief because I promised an update before Christmas and it's half ten Christmas eve where I am so I don't have much time! Haha :) And I'd like to point out that this 14 page whopper has been churned out in less than 24 hours, excluding obviously sleep and an eight-hour shift at work. I have no idea where I've found the time tbh :L**

**But MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :D I've been desperate to write a Christmassy one-shot for weeks now but had NO inspiration. And then these guys (THWTLAL E&B) were just there in the back of my mind despite it being two and a half years since I wrote any of this now (that's crazy!) so I just wrote it out :)**

**Like I said at the top, this is probably quite bad (and maybe an abrupt ending? :/) because it hasn't been fully edited but I'll try and edit and re-post after Christmas :) In the meantime, I hope it's given you some insight as to what I imagine E&B to be doing after Ethan and I really hope you liked it.**

**I'm hoping to do a couple more outtakes like this in the coming weeks; one set after this with more details about the baby (I totally have plans which are implied in this outtake but very subtle and if someone can guess I'll give them… well they can have a virtual Edward because that is the only prize worthy of such a good guess lol :P) and then another of the wedding and earlier years of Ethan's life, which would look more closely at Alice and Jasper and Jane and Mason as well :)**

**So yes. Merry Christmas and a happy new year! A review would make a wonderful gift (hint hint ;)) and I'd love to know your thoughts both on this and which outtake you'd like next :)**

**Please leave your thoughts!**

**Thanks so much :)**

**-Steph**


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